Spinoza and the Case for Philosophy
Elhanan Yakira, "Spinoza and the Case for Philosophy"
English | ISBN: 110706998X | 2014 | 304 pages | PDF | 3 MB
English | ISBN: 110706998X | 2014 | 304 pages | PDF | 3 MB
This book analyzes three often-debated questions of Spinoza's legacy: was Spinoza a religious thinker? How should we understand Spinoza's mind-body doctrine? What meaning can be given to Spinoza's notions - such as salvation, beatitude, and freedom - which are seemingly incompatible with his determinism, his secularism, and his critique of religion. Through a close reading of often-overlooked sections from Spinoza's Ethics, Elhanan Yakira argues that these seemingly conflicting elements are indeed compatible, despite Spinoza's iconoclastic meanings. Yakira argues that Ethics is an attempt at providing a purely philosophical - as opposed to theological - foundation for the theory of value and normativity.